Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber will meet in Stanford on Friday for a place in the semi-finals of the 2015 Bank of the West Classic. Radwanska teetered for a time in her second round match but recovered from a set and break down to beat Misaki Doi, 1-6 6-2 6-0. Prior to the match there had been concerns about Radwanska who was set to play on Wednesday but her match was postponed until Thursday to allow more time to recover from a back injury. Radwanska started slowly; while she was far from where she needed to be, Doi played some superb tennis for a set and half as she dominated with her forehand and came out on top (surprisingly) in a few cat-and-mouse points.  As Radwanska improved in the second set, the Japanese player rather imploded in a rainstorm of errors. Radwanska romped home, winning the last 12 (!) games of the match. After defeating Daria Gavrilova in the first round, Kerber enjoyed another straight sets win, defeating Ana Konjuh, 6-4 6-3 in the first match on Thursday’s schedule.

In what is a close head to head, Radwanska leads Kerber, 5-4. The pair had a flurry of matches in late 2013 with Kerber winning their most recent match at the WTA Championships, 6-2 6-2. It’s one of those match-ups where there doesn’t appear to be a mental edge either way and it will come down to who plays the best on the day. While it has been very even between the pair, their last five matches have all been decided in straight sets. Radwanska’s injury is a concern although if it was a big issue, she probably would have just pulled out already. If this becomes a physical match (which it certainly could do!) then Kerber might have the edge. Angie’s my champion for the week and i’ve seen nothing so far this week to suggest otherwise.

Prediction: Kerber d. Radwanska in 3 sets